Waterland: the art, science & magic of water in our landscapes
This exhibition, held at Wayout Artspace in Kandos in July/August 2022, came about through a collaboration between KSCA and The Mulloon Institute. Quite a few members of KSCA were involved, with the show being curated by Laura Fisher, Kim Williams, and recent Uni of Wollongong graduate Vashti Pearce. It was a project with many threads: workshops, collaborative installations and university-based science communication projects. A big part of this was a Waterway Model, which almost every student at Kandos Public School had a hand in creating and reconstructing. As the exhibition opened, Emma Syme and Peter Swain were just completing a sand painting and gave the show a warm Wiradjuri welcome, after which everyone was offered a taste of healthy hydrated soil dessert by Marnee Fox. As so many KSCA projects happen elsewhere, it felt great with this project to be truly local to Kandos.
The exhibition blurb:
“Our environment is forever being shaped by two sources of energy: the sun, and gravity compelling water and anything it can carry downhill. Without plants cycling water and dissipating these colossal forces, these forms of energy would continually desiccate and erode our landscapes, creating chaos.
For most of us, the intricate relationship between people, plants, water and the forces of the universe is a mystery. And yet more and more we are asked to play our part in managing that relationship to preserve the landscapes we love. Waterland is an exhibition about the way water moves. It came about through a series of invitations and scientific prompts provided to artists, designers, teachers and students. Members of the local community and landowners in the region were invited to take part in an extended process of building and installing the exhibition, and workshops with local schools took place. These prompts and gatherings were all linked to the theme of environmental stewardship: how can we manage water most effectively to ensure our landscapes continue to thrive?”
The artists were: Susan Banki, Bridget Baskerville, Franks’ Breakaway, Toni Bird, Kerrie Cooke, Charlie Cooper, Marnee Fox, Eloise Lindeback, Josh Harle, David Hardwick, Emily Ianno, Kylie Kiu, Sophia Konti, Josh McConnell, Gary McGuigan, Jesse Newman, Sarah Peterswald, Georgie Pollard, Imogen Semmler, Angela South, Emma Syme, Leanne Thompson, Kingsley Tonkin, Hugh Tory & Nicholas Tory.
Artworks by Kingsley Tonkin, Kylie Kiu, Georgie Pollard and Sophia Konti.
Artworks by Bridget Baskerville, Gary McGuigan, and the Waterway Model (created by many hands).
Hexagon artwork created by various artists and students, with central image by Nicholas Tory.
We worked with so many wonderful school groups (see some workshop pics above) and organisations to make this happen:
Capertee Public School, Glen Alice Public School, Ilford Public School, Kandos Public School, Kandos High School, North East Wiradjuri Cultural Centre, Capertee Valley Landcare, Watershed Landcare, Institute for Water Futures, Australian National University, School of Art & Design, Australian National University, School of Arts, English & Media, University of Wollongong.
Waterland was part of the Mulloon Institute’s 'Modelling Landscape Rehydration for Catchments, Communities and Curriculum project', which received Citizen Science grant funding from the Australian Government. It was also supported by the NSW Government through a Wayout Exhibition Program.
